LONDON (AP) — German media group Axel Springer has agreed to buy the owner of Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper for 575 million pounds ($766 million), the companies announced Friday.
The agreement ends a long saga over ownership of the Telegraph Media Group, which publishes the 171-year-old, conservative-leaning Daily Telegraph, its Sunday sister paper and the Telegraph news website.
Berlin-based Axel Springer said it will invest in the group “to enable it to become the leading center-right media outlet in the English-speaking world" and “turbocharge” expansion into the U.S. market.
The German company owns titles including the Bild and Welt newspapers, Business Insider and the political information group Politico. It has made previous attempts to enter the British market, with unsuccessful bids for the Telegraph in 2004 and the Financial Times in 2015.
“More than 20 years ago, we tried to acquire The Telegraph and did not succeed. Now our dream comes true,” Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner said.
The agreement follows years of uncertainty over the Telegraph titles' future and scuttles a bid by the owner of the Daily Mail, a rival right-of-center newspaper.
The Telegraph group, previously owned by Britain’s Barclay family, was put up for sale in 2023 to help pay off the family’s debts. There was an offer to buy the publications from RedBird IMI, a consortium backed by RedBird Capital Partners and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family and the vice president of the United Arab Emirates.
The consortium pulled out in 2024 following strong opposition from the U.K. government, which launched legislation to block foreign state ownership of the British press.
Daily Mail and General Trust, which owns the right-of-center Daily Mail, later made a 500 million-pound offer, but earlier this year the government ordered it be investigated over concerns about the purchase's impact on competition and the “plurality of views” in Britain's media.
The failed suitor criticized a "protracted and out-of-date regulatory framework" for sinking its bid, but said “we wish every success to Axel Springer and the Telegraph.”
Conservative news magazine The Spectator, previously part of the Telegraph group, was sold separately in 2024 to British hedge fund investor Paul Marshall.
FILE -The Daily Telegraph newspaper with the front page of French President Emanuel Macron is seen at a supermarket in London, March 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
With the likes of Vincent Trocheck, Justin Faulk and maybe even Robert Thomas still on the market, NHL trade deadline day has arrived with general managers having one last chance to beef up their lineups.
As Friday began, sellers appeared to be in control, with prices high and leaving playoff-contending buyers weighing a range of options.
Trocheck remains with the New York Rangers, who traded Sam Carrick to Buffalo. Toronto has multiple players on the block. And St. Louis is open for business with almost everyone on its roster gettable at the right price, from Thomas and Faulk to Colton Parayko and Jordan Binnington.
Minnesota and Philadelphia kicked off the wheeling and dealing Friday with a one-for-one swap. The Wild got forward Bobby Brink and sent defenseman David Jiricek to the Flyers, according to a person with knowledge of the trade.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade had not yet been finalized.
Brink is the fourth player added by the Wild this week after claiming forward Robby Fabbri off waivers from St. Louis, and making trades with Nashville for center Michael McCarron and Florida for defenseman Jeff Petry.
John Carlson is going to the Anaheim Ducks as part of a surprising deal from the Washington Capitals agreed to just after midnight. Anaheim sent a conditional first-round pick in either this or next year's draft plus a 2027 third-rounder to Washington for Carlson, a 36-year-old defenseman who has only played in the league for the Capitals since 2009 and helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2018.
Carlson is a pending free agent without a contract beyond this year but was not expected to get moved before the deadline. He joins the Ducks as they look to end a seven-year playoff drought.
“John Carlson brings leadership, character, a high hockey IQ and a presence to our lineup,” Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said. “We are very excited to add a Stanley Cup winner to complement our group and make a big push down the stretch.”
Also overnight, the Sabres added defensemen Luke Schenn and Logan Stanley from Winnipeg, while the Blue Jackets won a bidding war to get winger Conor Garland from Vancouver.
Poised to end an NHL-record 14-year playoff drought, the Sabres sent forward Isak Rosen, defenseman Jacob Bryson, a 2026 fourth-round pick and a 2027 second-rounder to the Jets for Schenn and Stanley. They also got Carrick for third- and sixth-round picks.
Though they struck out on finalizing a deal with the Blues for Parayko, who invoked his no-trade clause in rejecting a trade to Buffalo, the Sabres have already shored up plenty of depth needs without affecting their core roster.
Columbus sent a third-round pick in the draft this year and a 2028 second-rounder to the Canucks for Garland, the soon-to-be 30-year-old who drew interest from multiple Eastern Conference contenders.
Much of the action Friday could be in the Eastern Conference after most of the top teams in the West did their shopping earlier this week. Back-to-back Stanley Cup finalist Edmonton is expected to be done after shoring up its defense with Connor Murphy and getting shutdown center Jason Dickinson in separate trades with Chicago; Dallas made moves for Tyler Myers and Michael Bunting; and league-best Colorado filled its biggest need at center by getting Nicolas Roy from Toronto.
Minnesota has added around the edges, though the Wild remain on the lookout for a top-six center who can help them match up with the Stars and Avalanche to get through a gauntlet of a Central Division.
Carolina and Tampa Bay are atop a wide-open East and, along with Detroit, would seem to be in the running for Trocheck and others. The Sabres, who swung big and missed on Parayko and Blues teammate Robert Thomas, also could be active.
The Utah Mammoth, trying to get into the playoffs for the first time since moving to Salt Lake City, got better on defense by acquiring Mackenzie Weegar from Calgary, but also have tons of draft picks, prospects and salary cap space to make another big splash.
Florida, after winning the Stanley Cup back to back and making three trips to the final in a row, is heading toward missing the playoffs, the first time for a defending champ since Los Angeles in 2015. Captain Aleksander Barkov's torn ACL started a series of injuries that derailed the Panthers' season and made them unexpected sellers.
As such, they are a team to watch in the final hours. Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky is a pending free agent, though depth forward A.J. Greer appears more likely to get traded, along with a handful of others.
AP Sports Writers Greg Beacham and Dave Campbell contributed to this report.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL
FILE -Washington Capitals defenseman John Carlson (74) in action during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Nashville Predators, Feb. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)
Vancouver Canucks' Conor Garland (8) watches as Winnipeg Jets goaltender Eric Comrie (1) stops the puck during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, B.C., on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)
Vancouver Canucks right wing Conor Garland (8) looks to pass in the second period against the Seattle Kraken during an NHL hockey game Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Kevin Ng)
